Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a posture control apparatus of a small boat such as a motorboat.
Description of Related Art
In the case of a small boat such as a motorboat, particularly a small boat equipped with an even number of outboard motors mounted side by side on the hull, such as a so-called twin-outboard boat, the propellers are counter-rotated to balance propeller reaction forces. Notwithstanding, side-to-side inclination or tilt readily occurs owing to hull center of gravity variation and other causes, and even fore-aft inclination or tilt between the bow and stern of the ship may occur.
Regarding this point, Japanese Patent No. 2,858,133 proposes with respect to single outboard stabilization a technology for mitigating hull inclination by providing a pair of trim tabs installed on the stern for controlling hull posture and an output mechanism capable of controlling their angles, controlling the trim tab angles based on boat speed, and controlling the angles of the pair of trim tab in the same direction when no steering torque is inputted and in opposite directions when steering torque is inputted.